U.S. government agencies say Amazon is responsible for hazardous materials sold by third-party sellers on its platform and shipped by the company.
A U.S. government agency ordered Tuesday that Amazon is liable under federal safety law for hazardous materials sold by third-party sellers on its platform and shipped by the company.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission announced that it had unanimously determined that the e-commerce company was a “seller” of defective products sold on its site and packed and shipped through its fulfillment service.
That means the company will be held legally liable for recalls of more than 400,000 products, including hair dryers and faulty carbon monoxide detectors, the agency said. The agency ordered Amazon to set up a system to notify customers who bought the defective products and remove them from circulation by offering incentives for them to be returned or discarded.
Overall, Amazon accounts for about 40% of e-commerce sales in the U.S., according to market research firm eMarketer. The company sells many products directly to consumers and also partners with about 2 million third-party sellers, which make up the majority of sales on its platform.
The online retailer has been battling the “distributor” label since 2021, when the Consumer Product Safety Commission filed an administrative complaint against the company for distributing dangerous products.
Amazon argued before an administrative law judge and a five-judge panel that it shouldn't be classified as a seller under the Consumer Product Safety Act. The panel said the judge rejected the company's arguments and Tuesday's order affirms that decision.
The commission said Amazon put consumers at risk of injury by failing to inform them about the dangerous items and “failed to take reasonable steps to encourage” them to return or discard them.
